Nvidia’s $700M Run:ai acquisition hangs in the balance as EU promises ruling by December 20
Regulators cite competition concerns, leaving the chip giant’s ambitions uncertain and the Israeli startup in limbo.
EU antitrust regulators are set to make a decision on U.S. chipmaker Nvidia's proposed acquisition of Israeli AI startup Run:ai by December 20, according to a European Commission filing.
Last month, the EU antitrust watchdog warned that the deal could threaten competition in the markets where the companies operate and required Nvidia to seek its approval before closing the acquisition.
The Commission has the option to either approve the deal, with or without conditions, during its preliminary review or initiate a more in-depth four-month investigation if significant concerns arise.
Antitrust regulators in both Europe and the United States have increasingly raised concerns about "killer acquisitions," where large corporations acquire startups only to shut them down and stifle competition.
Nvidia, whose processors play a critical role in AI applications such as training models like ChatGPT, announced its intention to acquire Run:ai in April, with the deal valued at approximately $700 million.
In September, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued subpoenas to Nvidia and other companies as part of an investigation into potential antitrust violations. This investigation includes Nvidia's acquisition of Run:ai, which develops an operating system for AI processors. Concerns have been raised that integrating Run:ai's system with Nvidia's other products could make it harder for customers to switch to competing chips. Investigators are also examining whether Nvidia incentivizes customers with special pricing or supplies to exclusively use its technology or purchase complete systems.
Although the deal does not meet the EU turnover threshold that would typically mandate Nvidia to request EU approval, the Italian competition authority notified the European Commission about the case. The EU accepted the referral and warned about potential competition risks posed by the deal.
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"The transaction threatens to significantly affect competition in the markets where Nvidia and Run:ai are active, which are likely to extend across the European Economic Area and include Italy," the Commission stated.
Run:ai raised $75 million in a Series C funding round in March 2022, led by Tiger Global Management and Insight Partners, who also led the Series B round. Additional participation came from existing investors TLV Partners and S Capital VC, bringing Run:ai's total funding to $118 million.
Founded in 2018 by Omri Geller (CEO) and Dr. Ronen Dar (CTO), Run:ai specializes in orchestration and virtualization software designed for the unique requirements of AI workloads on GPUs and similar chipsets. Its Kubernetes-based container platform for AI clouds optimizes GPU utilization by dynamically allocating resources—ranging from fractions of GPUs to multiple GPUs across nodes—ensuring efficient and scalable performance.
